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August 11 is quickly approaching and for many people, this day could not come faster. The majority of them have been waiting almost a year for this day to come, and some, like myself, have only been waiting months (or weeks or days). What exactly are we all waiting for? Well, to be precise, we’re all waiting for SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT a DEA agent/brother-in-law to get off a toilet. Yes, we’re all waiting for Breaking Bad to come back after the first half of season 5 ended with Hank Schrader discovering this his brother-in-law, Walter White, was in fact the elusive Heisenberg. It just ended up being a bonus that Hank was sitting on the toilet when he found out and of course, the Internet has fully embraced this iconic moment.

I’m getting a bit off-topic, but as you can tell, I absolutely love this show. This might be controversial, but I truly believe this is the best show on television right now and one of the best shows that has ever graced the medium. I used to be a staunch supporter of the “Mad Men is the best show on TV” camp, but after the sloppy mess that was season 5, I’ve lost that love I had for the show. I will always be Team Peggy though and sorry, I still have a soft spot for the Peggy/Pete relationship and will remain hopeful that they’ll get back together. My interest has waned so much that I’ve only watched the first episode of the most recent season and haven’t found the urge to continue. If you’re caught up on Mad Men, let me know if I need to catch up immediately (I mean, I will eventually), otherwise I will look into other shows that have been deemed must watch by my friends and critics (I’m hearing so much about Orange is the New Black; don’t worry, I’ve started it). My sudden loss of interest in Mad Men may have also been aided by my Breaking Bad bingewatching this past December and the realization that YES THIS SHOW DESERVES THE HYPE WHY DIDN’T I WATCH THIS EARLIER?! In any case, I did sit on my butt for several days and caught up with the series during my Winter Break and I am so glad I did. I’ve mentioned in several pastposts just how much I love and am enthralled by the writing, story, and cinematography of Breaking Bad, so I highly recommend starting the show if you haven’t by now, just to get a glimpse to see what you’re missing out on and why the show gets such high praise.

I’ve made a post in the past detailing how to take advantage of cultural happenings in San Francisco on a student budget (which you can read HERE) and now I’m going to try to do the same for New York City. I’ve been here for almost a year now and I don’t think I will ever get over how expensive and out of control some of the prices are here (this may be due in part to the fact that I’m on the hunt for housing right now and I just want to weep while scrolling through Craigslist; must avoid places like these listings). Almost everything here, from produce to housing, is a lot more expensive than I’m used to and as a result, I’m always on the hunt to save a few bucks here and there. New York’s crazy prices shouldn’t deter you from enjoying the multitude of events and activities the city has to offer, I tell myself. Personally, it’s pretty pricey living here, all the way across the country, away from my family, friends, cheap produce, cheap Mexican food, In-n-Out, and so on. I force myself to go out and really enjoy the city because not everyone can say they live in New York City, right? So I will now present a taste of some of the FREE (or super cheap) activities I’ve partaken in this summer so far.

This week, Mad Men wrapped up its sixth season and the online/blog world has been spotlighting one particular fan made video in which the show is re-imagined as the early 2000s teen classic, The O.C. But before we move into that, can I make a confession? I’ve been a horrible Mad Men fan this year and have yet to watch this season, minus the first episode (which was really more like a tv movie) which I finally caught two days ago. I know. I know. This is super shameful, especially coming from someone like me who sat on my ass for days on end marathoning the show four summers ago and later spammed my Facebook with not-so-cryptic-actually-probably-were-spoilers statuses and posts. To be honest, I think season 5 just left a bad taste in my mouth with its extreme heavy-handedness and not-so clever imagery. However, I’ve heard this past season has sort of redeemed itself and managed to set up a possible interesting story line. From what I’ve gathered (I’m not a fan of spoilers, okay?!), Don, Megan, Stan, and Ted have headed out to the Best/West Coast, hence the wonderful fan-made mash up below.

This past semester I took a class on digital media and we touched upon the idea of copyrights and constructing creative works based on images or material that have been copyrighted. Fan videos are some of my favorite things to watch, if only because it’s fascinating to see how people can build upon or manipulate an already established piece of work to create something entirely new. When we discussed the issues surrounding copyrighting and the argument over whether creativity is hindered, I immediately thought of fan videos and artwork. YouTube, Tumblr, and DeviantArt are just some of the websites where you can find a multitude of art, videos, and music inspired by various tv shows or books. For many young artists, this is how they begin tapping into their creative skills. If you take the time to search, you’ll find tons of impressive works, much like the Mad Men/The O.C mash-up above. Because I’ve been inspired by the video and the possible cameo appearance by Adam Brody on the next season of Mad Men, here are a few more hilarious and brilliant opening credit mash-ups.

The Aladdin show at Disney’s California Adventure is still the best place to take a nap in the parks. It’s heated/air conditioned, dark, and has comfy chairs. Obviously this only applies when you have seen the show before because it actually is a really great adaptation of the movie and the guy who plays Genie improvises (I think) and it’s great.

It’s a really bad idea to go to Disneyland without checking their Twitter to see if it’s a busy day. Imagine a normal day at Disneyland…then multiple that crowd by 10.

Davey Havok from the band AFI, or some guy who looks suspiciously like him, eats at Urth Cafe.

The new Ke$ha album is actually really, REALLY catchy.

Breaking Bad is really great and actually deserving of the hype.

Leonardo DiCaprio never getting awards/recognition is one of my favorite running jokes.

They still play Drake and Josh reruns on Nickelodeon.

Catfish is absolutely hilarious only because you sit there going “WHY DID YOU NOT USE SKYPE? DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WAS NORMAL TO NOT TALK TO THIS PERSON ON THE PHONE? GIRL YOU LIVE 15 MINUTES AWAY FROM THIS PERSON AND DIDN’T THINK IT WAS WEIRD YOU NEVER MET IN PERSON? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF GOOGLE?!” and so on. Also it somehow doesn’t phase the Catfish people that some girl pretended to be a guy on Facebook for two years so she could distract her boyfriend’s other chick (hay Mhissy hay). Continue reading →

I’m really bad with keeping up with this blog but figured I should post something before the year ends.

Since the last time I updated, I started my MA program at NYU and moved to New York. It’s been a huge change (one that was quite difficult at first), but it’s definitely been a learning experience. I’m happy to say that I’m enjoying my time there now and school has definitely contributed to my overall happiness. The beginning half of this year was possibly the hardest time period in my life – having to learn how to accept “no” as an answer multiple times, realizing that I need to stop acting entitled just because I have an expensive sheet of paper, learning how to be happy for other people even as my self-confidence dwindles, learning how to swallow my pride and face the fact that nothing is really “below my standards,” and so on – but I do believe I am a better person overall for having experienced it. Did it suck? Obviously. Would I do it again? Hopefully not, but I am, in a strange way, grateful for January – August because I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes and how to be satisfied and thankful for any opportunity that comes my way.

Now that I’ve explained my current and past mentality for this year, I’ll move on to much more exciting and entertaining things. This is a post about the pop culture-y things I’ve enjoyed this year – anything from movies, tv shows, music, YouTube videos, etc. I have to admit there isn’t anything groundbreaking here as I was/am a bit slow to catch onto things, at least for 2012, due in part to my lack of time and (mostly) in part to my laziness. Some of these items listed are things I’m sure most people already know about and may have even moved past or gotten over. Oh well!

So here are the things, in no particular order, that provided an escape, entertained me, or helped me procrastinate:

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Hi there!
You have stumbled upon my pop culture-y themed blog. Here I will try to put together my thoughts on various aspects of pop culture - television, movies, and music. Hopefully, you like it! Well, actually, if you hate it, that's fine too.
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